Welcome to the Painting Challenge. Here you will find the fabulous, fevered work from miniature painters from around the world. They are of every colour, gender, age and nationality, but all these people have at least two things in common: they love miniatures and they have all taken the Challenge.
This site features the current year's event along with archives of past Challenges.
Enjoy your visit and please come back soon.

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Saturday, 21 November 2015

Well, it would seem that our comments may have busted the initial Challenge announcement
post so I thought I'd begin another here to shepherd the conversation
and also to bring up that perennial favorite: Challenges & Duels.

As
many of the Old Salts would know, the declaration of personal
challenges and paint duels extends back to our very first Challenge
where harmless smack talk sparked healthy (and humorous) competition
between participants. Over the years it has become more formalized with
many 'Paint Duels' becoming part of Challenge lore (if there can be
such a thing). For those who are new to this sillines let me explain:
the challenges and duels allow small groups of participants to test one
another against a variety of criteria. Sometimes it's to see who can
paint the most figures within a particular historical period or genre,
while other duels may be to see who can get to a specific points
threshold first. The sky's the limit - it's really up to your
imagination.

I've
noticed that a few participants have already started to issue a few
duels, but I thought I'd dedicate a page for it so we collect them all
in one spot. I'll update this page to reflect all the duels so we know
what's what before we head into the Challenge next month.

In
49 BC Julius Caesar halted his XIII legion along the north bank of the
Rubicon river in northern Italy. He knew that if he crossed with his
army into southern Italy he would be violating Roman law, thereby making
the lives of both him and his men forfeit, but Caesar also aware that
if he returned to Rome as a regular citizen he would be censored by the
government and quite possibly killed. After some deliberation he
resolved to cross the Rubicon and risk civil war. Once on the other side
of the river Caesar is reported to have said, 'Alea iacta est' - The
die is cast.

The
Challenge will extend from the beginning of Winter, 12:01 am December 20th , through to the first
day of Spring, 12:01 am March 20th, Central Standard Time.

Figures
can be prepared and primed prior to the start date, but no
colour can be applied until December 20th. In order to be fully scored
the
figures have to be based and their groundwork completed. The figures
have to be painted by you. The Challenge follows the honour system in
the
completion and entry of figures. Dishonour and public shaming goes (with
perhaps the throwing of frozen vegetables) upon anyone who besmirches
the venerable craft of
painting toy soldiers!

The figures can be in any scale and in any theme, including pulp-adventure, science-fiction and fantasy.

In
order to be scored, photos of all figures/units along with a short
descriptive note must be uploaded to the Analogue Hobbies Painting
Challenge blog. Up-to-date scoring will be
maintained on the blog's main page. I will send out an email to all
Challengers to provide further details regarding participation.

The Judge (me) will participate, but my score will not have any standing in the Challenge (I will continue my struggle to be amongst the middle-of-the-pack).

Since
I can't leave well enough alone, I've again tweaked a few aspects of
how the Challenge will be administered. I will still be the master of
ceremonies, but I've called upon a Happy Few to assist me in keeping
this joyous circus on the rails - more on that later.

Other scales, miscellaneous models/figures will be scored on a submission-by-submission basis.

Amelia Earhart

Challenger Personal Targets and Duels

Similar
to previous years, I ask that each Challenger declare his/her points
target that they hope to achieve by the March 20th deadline. I encourage
Challengers to pick a target that is a bit beyond their comfort zone,
but still achievable. Many participants have found this a great
incentive to help maintain their pace over the three months of the
Challenge. As a benchmark, 400 points is a manageable amount for someone
who is new the the event and/or has a busy work/life schedule.
Remember, many points can be secured by participating in the Bonus
Rounds (more on this below).Also, many folks have a lot of fun issuing 'duels'
to other participants in order to race to meet a declared target, paint
the most figures for a specific period, etc. I leave this to the
participants to organize, but I'm more than happy to log the duels and
keep track of the points.

Vo Nguen Giap

Challenger Target Thresholds & Prizes

There
will be six point thresholds set out for
the Challenge. Each time a participant reaches a Point Threshold his/her
name will be entered for the prize drawn for that level. So, the more
points you accumulate the more prizes you will be eligible for. We have
many generous prize sponsors who I will introduce in a following post.
The
Threshold prizes will be drawn at the end of the Challenge.

Threshold I: 500 points

Threshold II: 750 points

Threshold III: 1000 points

Threshold IV: 1500 points

Threshold V: 2000 points

Threshold VI: 2500 points

Gebhard Lebrecht Blucher

The Fortnight Theme Bonus Rounds

Same
as previous years, we will have a series of thematic Bonus Rounds.
Each Bonus Round asks Challengers to enter a submission that
illustrates a particular theme. The Bonus Rounds are not mandatory,
they are just a little bit of fun to pace out the the Challenge and
allow people to gain some points and fame through presenting vignettes and specific single figures.

Those
Challengers who manage to submit an entry for a 'Fortnight Theme Bonus
Round' will receive an extra 50 points on top of the regular entry tally. No
scales less than 15mm will be eligible for the Theme Bonus Rounds but they can be of a historical or fictional subject.

The seven Bonus Themes along with their submission deadlines are:

January 3rd: Nostalgia

January 17th: Epic Fail

January 31st : Defensive Terrain

February 14th: L'amour

February 28th: Nautical

March 13th: Gambler/Risk-Taker

The theme submissions are to be sent in by 12:01 am (CST) on the specified date (Sundays for all).

For each bonus round I'll post a poll listing all the round's entries so visitors can vote for their favourite.

Neil Armstrong

Tipping the Croupier

As in previous Challenges, I ask for a small memento from each Challenger. In
keeping with this year's theme, the entrance 'fee' for this
year's Challenge will be a single 28mm figure characterized as a risk-taker, daredevil or gambler. The figure will be supplied
and painted by the entrant. This miniature can be submitted any time up
until the end of the Challenge. Again, same as previous years, for each
figure I receive I will donate $5 to the Saskatchewan branch of the Regina Humane Society.

Robert E. Lee

The Call

Please
don't wait too long if you're interested - drop me a note below to get on the
roster. I'll place notification in this space when all the participant slots for the Challenge have been filled.